BNP Paribas Financial Markets Grows Stake in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU) (2024)

Posted by Defense World Staff on May 18th, 2024

BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU – Free Report) by 189.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 772,015 shares of the credit services provider’s stock after buying an additional 505,094 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets’ holdings in Western Union were worth $9,202,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Western Union in the fourth quarter worth about $300,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its position in shares of Western Union by 969.5% during the third quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 765,613 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $10,192,000 after acquiring an additional 694,026 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Western Union by 11.9% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,299,090 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $30,302,000 after acquiring an additional 244,286 shares during the last quarter. Sigma Planning Corp bought a new position in Western Union in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $527,000. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its stake in Western Union by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 2,528,570 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $30,141,000 after purchasing an additional 188,462 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.81% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Timothy P. Murphy purchased 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $12.85 per share, for a total transaction of $128,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 56,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $722,234.25. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.85% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Western Union Stock Down 0.5 %

WU opened at $13.13 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $13.44 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $12.65. The company has a market capitalization of $4.44 billion, a PE ratio of 7.77, a PEG ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.84. The Western Union Company has a 1-year low of $10.92 and a 1-year high of $14.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.38.

Western Union (NYSE:WU – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The credit services provider reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.05. Western Union had a return on equity of 120.76% and a net margin of 14.12%. The company had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.01 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.43 EPS. Western Union’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Western Union Company will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Western Union Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $0.235 dividend. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.16%. Western Union’s dividend payout ratio is 55.62%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on WU shares. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Western Union from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Western Union from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Western Union from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Western Union from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt initiated coverage on shares of Western Union in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.61.

Read Our Latest Research Report on Western Union

About Western Union

(Free Report)

The Western Union Company provides money movement and payment services worldwide. The company operates through Consumer Money Transfer and Consumer Services segments. The Consumer Money Transfer segment facilitates money transfers for international cross-border and intra-country transfers, primarily through a network of retail agent locations, as well as through websites and mobile devices.

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